If people didn't do things because they were unsafe, nobody would skydive, hunt, downhill ski, water ski, start fires, or ride horses. But people do all of those things quite frequently. There are certain things that are inherently dangerous, but they all have specific guidelines in place to minimize the danger.
Here are the Cliff Notes to the CHP Lane Splitting Guidelines:
- Travel at a speed that is no more than 10 MPH faster than other traffic.
- It is not advisable to lane split when traffic flow is at 30 mph or faster.
- Typically, it is safer to split between the #1 and #2 lanes than between other lanes.
- Consider the total environment in which you are splitting, including the width of the lanes, size of surrounding vehicles, as well as roadway, weather, and lighting conditions.
- Be alert and anticipate possible movements by other road users.
Although tons of accidents occur when motorcyclists lane split, I'd bet the overwhelming majority of them happen because the rider didn't follow one or more of these guidelines.
In this case it seems like the OP followed just 2 of them. IMO, he failed to follow numbers 1, 4, and 5, with the latter 2 being the most critical. OP was splitting through bumper-to-bumper traffic...down a city street. I don't work there, but looking at the map, even I can tell that street probably has tons of potential left turners. Also, if OP would have split at 10 mph, he likely would have been able to brake in time. It takes 36 ft. to stop from a speed of 20 mph, but only 13 ft. to stop from 10 mph.
Hope you didn't find this too harsh @
ajcadoo, I just wanted you to keep those guidelines in mind next time you lane split. You're doing yourself a disservice by being so sure nobody was at fault.